Main Page

Figure 1. Representation of the different models and data, and their underlying science, applied to decision-making in the Colorado River Basin. (Design: J. Lukas, adapted from L. Payton; basin map by Western Water Assessment (L. Woelders); thumbnail images from University of Washington VIC group, NOAA Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, and Reclamation)

Figure 2. The "4-panel plot" showing trends in Colorado River Basin reservoir storage, natural streamflow, precipitation, and temperature, through Water Year 2023. Click on the figure for a larger version. (Figure: Brad Udall; Data: Reclamation - reservoir storage and streamflow; NOAA NCEI - precipitation and temperature)

About

The Colorado River Science Wiki is a web-based clearinghouse for scientific and technical information relevant to the Colorado River Basin and the management of its water resources and related natural resources. This clearinghouse is intended to be useful to managers and other decision-makers, to researchers, to the media, and to the broader public. Its objectives are to:

• Share recent and ongoing Colorado River research efforts and findings
• Provide up-to-date synthesis of the science relevant to management
• Allow one-stop access to key technical datasets and data tools
• Help inform discussions about the next Interim Guidelines
• Engage the greater Colorado River community in a joint information-gathering effort

The Wiki is still in the early stages of development and will evolve and expand. We welcome your feedback; please use this form to send us suggestions, or reach us at the contact information below.

Outline

There are six main sections in the Wiki. Each section can be accessed via the navigation panel on the left side of the page.

Science and applications

Provides up-to-date information across dozens of areas of management-relevant science. Each page has at least the following:

• Summary description of the topic
• The topic's relevance to Colorado River water management
• Annotated links to datasets, tools, and other information and science synthesis on that topic

Data and tools

Collates all of the annotated links to the datasets and tools from Section 1, to make them available in one place.

New research

Lists, by year and by subject, research studies and relevant reports published since 2020.

Water law and policy

Describes the legal and policy context in which the science and applications to inform water management are implemented.

Who's who

Identifies key players in the science-to-applications (aka research-to-operations, or R2O) chain in the basin, and provides links to homepages and other resources.

About the river

Provides a very brief introduction to the Colorado River and the challenges that have emerged in the 21st century.

Contact

The development of the Wiki is being carried out by Julie Vano and Tanya Petach (Aspen Global Change Institute), Brad Udall (Colorado Water Center, Colorado State University), and Jeff Lukas (Lukas Climate Research and Consulting).

To provide feedback on the Wiki content, please see the Feedback page.

For other questions about the Wiki, please contact Julie (jvano [at] agci.org) or Brad (Bradley.udall [at] colostate.edu).

Acknowledgements

The development of the Wiki is currently supported by funding from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Upper Colorado River Basin (Interior Region 7) and Lower Colorado Basin (Interior Region 8), as well as in-kind support from Aspen Global Change Institute and the Colorado State University Colorado Water Center.

We are seeking additional funding for the Wiki from the Colorado River community; please contact Julie (jvano [at] agci.org) if you are interested in supporting this effort.

From 2020 to 2024, the development of the Wiki was also supported by U.S. Geological Survey Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (SW CASC) Grant #G18AC00320, and funding and in-kind support from the Colorado State University Colorado Water Center.